1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the automated dispensing of animal feed, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for feeding horses.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has long been recognized that regulating the amount of feed given to horses is important to maintaining the health and conditioning of the horses. For this reason, the traditional method of feeding horses involves measuring and delivering feed to horses in predetermined amounts. Due to its inherently labor-intensive and time consuming nature, this feeding method is usually performed twice a day providing relatively large amounts of feed on each occasion. Twice-daily feeding, however, is inconsistent with the natural feeding habits of horses. It is well-known that horses are, by nature, grazing animals. As such, it is more natural for a horse to consume rather small amounts of feed more frequently, instead of relatively large amounts of feed several times daily.
In addition, there are a number of problems which may be encountered when feeding horses according to a typical twice-daily feeding schedule. First, many of the nutrients which are in the feed are not metabolized by the horse when the feed is digested. Second, the relatively large amounts of feed which are provided to a horse during a single feeding may also produce gas colic, widely varying levels of certain blood constituents (such as blood sugars and lactic acid), and may also adversely influence bone density.
For these reasons, it is believed that providing smaller, measured amounts of feed at more frequent intervals will result in the improved overall well-being of a horse. For example, providing smaller amounts of feed at 2-4 hour intervals improves the absorption of nutrients, reduces gas colic, causes the level of certain constituents within the blood to be more uniform throughout the day, and could possibly improve the bone density due to the improved absorption of nutrients. Additionally, providing smaller amounts of feed at more frequent intervals reduces feed waste since the feed is more efficiently used by the horse. Notwithstanding the benefits obtainable through such a regular feeding program, considerations regarding the labor-intensive demands of frequent, measured feeding have often made such a feeding program prohibitive.
Accordingly, various attempts have been made at developing automated systems for providing horses relatively small amounts of feed at relatively frequent intervals. One such automated system is marketed under the tradename CABLEVEY which is supplied by EquiSystems, Fort Wayne, Ind. In the CABLEVEY system, feed passes from a hopper into an overhead continuous circuit of steel tubing. A cable fitted with molded plastic discs moves the feed throughout the barn to individual containers, or feed drops, situated above the stalls. When all of the feed drops are filled, the system shuts down until a timer releases the feed from the feed drops into the stalls. Once the feed has been released, the system repeats the operation and refills the feed drops in preparation for the next feeding. The CABLEVEY system is typically used to feed horses small, measured amounts of feed six to eight times per day. Another automatic feeding system for horses is sold under the tradename GOOD-O-MATIC available from Goode, Inc., Fort Worth, Tex. The GOOD-O-MATIC feeding system permits an operator to set controls for the amount, time, and frequency of feeding. The system then weighs and dispenses the proper amount of feed automatically.
While the known automatic feeding systems are generally effective, certain particular models may have certain disadvantages. For example, a mechanical feeder which is located within the stall may be easily damaged by a horse. That is, after the horse determines that the automatic feeder is the source of its food, the horse may exert great effort attempting to obtain feed from the feeder. It has been observed that, in attempting to obtain feed, a horse may strike, chew or bump at an automatic feeder causing severe damage to the device.